"Ireland's simplest bread (buttermilk, soda, flour) takes five minutes to mix and 40 to bake. Eaten warm with Irish butter, it is impossible to improve."
About Soda Bread
Ireland's daily bread and its most democratic recipe: flour, buttermilk, bicarbonate of soda and salt combined in minutes and baked for 40; the buttermilk's acidity activates the soda to create a dense, tender crumb and a floury crust; the cross cut into the top releases steam and, by tradition, lets the fairies out; eaten warm with Irish butter.
Soda Bread, a staple of Ireland's cuisine
The Bread
Soda bread is Ireland's daily loaf: flour, buttermilk, bicarbonate of soda and salt mixed in minutes and baked in under an hour. With no yeast and no kneading, it relies on the reaction between the soda and the acidic buttermilk to rise. The result is a dense, tender crumb with a floury crust and a faint sourness.
The Buttermilk
Buttermilk is the heart of the bread, not an optional extra. Its acidity reacts with the soda to leaven the dough, and without it the bread will not rise. Traditional buttermilk, the liquid left from churning butter, and modern cultured buttermilk both work. The tang it leaves is part of the flavour.
Brown and White
Soda bread comes in two main forms: white, made with plain flour and lighter and slightly sweet, and brown, made with wholemeal flour and nuttier and more filling. A cross is cut into the top before baking to help it cook through, a practical step wrapped in folklore about letting the fairies out. Each household keeps its own ratio.
A Daily Loaf
Soda bread is Irish cooking distilled: a handful of ingredients, a bowl and an oven, and a loaf better than most bought bread. It goes stale quickly, so it is made often and eaten fresh, ideally still warm with a thick spread of good salted Irish butter. Simple as it is, it remains a fixture of the Irish table.
What to Expect
The soda bread comes from the oven pale, the cross visible, the crust floury. It is eaten still warm with a thick spread of salted Irish butter. The crumb is dense and slightly sour from the buttermilk.
Why Try It
Soda bread is Irish cooking distilled: minimal ingredients, no equipment beyond a bowl and an oven, and a result that is better than any bought bread.
✦ Photo Gallery
Insider Tips
Eat it within two hours of baking. It goes stale faster than yeasted bread.
Real Irish butter (Kerrygold or equivalent) makes the difference.
Brown soda bread (with wholemeal flour) is more nutritious; white soda bread is lighter and sweeter.
